My lips parted as I debated speaking. Just like the old days, her face flushed and she looked away. I held in my snort of laughter.
“Yeah,” Erik said, gazing at me. “The flight was a difficult one. Loads of turbulence.”
“Sorry to hear,” Tess said, biting her bottom lip. She tucked her hands into her lab coat pockets, shying away from my stare once more.
I began assessing everyone. No one had my chemical green eyes. A good sign. They seemed to be a mixed bag, all staring back at me.
I glanced at the stuffy, know-it-all doctor. With his straight stance, shoulders back, arms crossed at his chest, an asshole vibe radiated from him.
Next to him was another man fitting the stereotype of a head-shrink…dapper tweed jacket, sporting leather elbow patches, khaki “dad” pants, wire-rimmed glasses, receding hairline, even though he didn’t seem more than forty, and an analytical gaze that would make anyone question themselves.
I stared him down for a moment. A challenge, of sorts. It was difficult for me to contain my amusement when he lifted a brow.
I turned to the bloke who looked to have a love affair with takeaway meals. His scrubs fit snuggly, the seams threatening to give way, the belly begging to be free. His hair was longer, but clean. He was clean-shaven, as well.
Then my gaze landed on a fit, beautiful woman. Definitely easy on the eyes. As I stared at her, soaking her in, her dark brown eyes seemed full of emotion, wondering, waiting, maybe looking for a connection. There was a moment I thought I saw the same pain in her eyes as my own. Then again, she could’ve just been empathetic to my situation.
My lips twitched as a devious half-smile lifted them. Erik looked at me with a curious glance, tracking my gaze to hers.
“Anyway,” he said. Her gaze lowered. “This is Mr. Luke Richards. As you know from the documentation I have already shown you, he has a rare illness that we are here to attempt to cure.” He motioned toward Tess, looking at me. “I’m sure you are familiar with my very capable lab assistant, Tess Simms. She was an integral part of creating the anti-serum for you.”
“Hullo, Tess,” I said, holding out my hand. “Nice to see you again.”
“Likewise, cunt,” she said, rubbing her palm on her lab coat, then taking my hand.
Pulling away, I tried to control my smile.
Erik gestured toward the stuffy-looking doctor. “This is Dr. Scott Barter. He’ll be in charge of your official care and will perform procedures, in which I will assist. Just so you understand. I’ll be a constant throughout this process. I’m not just handing you off to their care.”
I nodded and held my hand out to the good doctor. He looked down at it, then looked away.
Well, fuck you, too, I thought. We were going to get along just swimmingly.
Clearing his throat again, Erik nodded at “dad pants”. “This is PJ Atbury…” He paused, chewing his lip, as if he were trying to choose his words carefully. “Psychiatrist.”
I frowned as I turned to Erik. “I didn’t approve of this.”
“I brought him on last minute. He wasn’t part of the original treatment plan, but after all that has happened as of late, and seeing some of your behaviors, I thought it would be a wise choice. I do feel there are other reasons behind your erratic behavior, but we will discuss that after your tests.”
Tests? I let that one slide for the moment while I tried to figure out this wrench in my treatment plan. “You said you could bring a psychiatrist in if I wanted to see one.”
“Could I interrupt for a moment?” the head-shrink asked, holding up a finger.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I muttered.
“I think it would be best to have him oversee your…mental health,” Erik said, gesturing toward him. “I want you to just talk to him a couple times. If it’s not working, we can arrange something else.”
PJ stepped closer. “Mr. Richards—”
“Luke,” I snapped.
He raised his hands in surrender. “Luke, I just want to ensure that you’re able to wrap your head around everything going on. We won’t delve deep into everything unless you want to, but I would like to make sure you have continued stability.”
Continued stability? Obviously, he’s clueless. I knew I was a little bit of a nutter. “I don’t really have a choice, do I?” I asked, looking at Erik. “Everything was supposed to be my choice. That was the agreement.”
“I want you to try it. As I said, if it isn’t working, we will try something else.”
I rolled my eyes. “Like what? Electroshock therapy?” He lifted a brow, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fine.”
Sighing, Erik waved toward the chubby bloke. “This is Joseph Smith. He will be your overnight nurse.”
Joseph jabbed his hand out to me. Taking it, the warm, sweaty skin made me a little uncomfortable. The least he could’ve done was dry it on his pants.
“I get to watch you sleep,” he said with a horrendous smile.
“Yeah…that’s great.” Creepy fucker.
Erik gestured toward the woman, his thin lips again rolling into a slick smile. “And this is your daytime nurse, Michelle Fogerty.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Michelle.” I nodded and smiled, holding out my hand.
“I’m happy to be here to help you through this process,” she said, taking my hand. Hers was small, soft, and delicate, but I would bet my last dollar she was as tough as nails.
As I let go, I said, “Thank you all for being here.” I glanced at Erik once more. “I could really use a bed right now. I’m pretty spent from today’s activities.”
“Of course.” He looked back at the group assembled before us. “Thank you all for coming out. Everyone except Tess and Joseph are excused until morning.”
As most of the team left, Erik and I walked to the back of the lab.
“The cage room? Really? You are putting me in the fucking cage room?” I asked, feeling a little alarmed.
“I’ve made some improvements. See for yourself.” He pressed his finger to the print reader and opened the door, waving me in.
I stared at him for a moment before walking into what looked like a foyer of some sort. The door closed with a loud click, relocking. Erik walked to the window, looking toward the cage room, then back at me.
“Come look.”
I sighed and walked over.
Staring into the room, I felt a little antsy. While it looked larger than the average hospital room, it still felt cramped. Cabinetry, consisting of all the shades of beige, full-sized hospital bed, and exercise equipment. I was happy to see a heavy bag hanging in the far corner. I would be putting that to good use.
“A few things… My team and I are the only ones with print accessibility. Also, PJ, Joseph, and Michelle do not know what virus you have. I’ve told them as much as they need to know in order to treat you accordingly.”
“How long will I be in here?”
“Until you’re rid of the virus.”
“Right.” At this point, it seemed more like a death chamber.
He moved to the entrance and pressed his finger to another print reader. “This is a decontamination stall. The UV lighting will help lessen your exposure to germs. It only takes a few seconds. The company programmed the lock so the door will not open if you haven’t been decontaminated. Once it’s done, the door into the room will unlock automatically.” He waved at the stall-like entryway. “After you,” he said, smiling.
Slowly, I stepped into the chamber and he shut the door behind me. When it locked, the purple-blue hue illuminated my body. After about ten seconds, the entry door to my death chamber unlocked and opened. I stepped through, my gaze traveling around, absorbing everything.
After a few seconds, the door opened again and in walked Erik. “Well, what do you think?”
“I hate it.”
“Of course you do,” he muttered. “I did make sure there was workout equipment here for you.”
“Yeah… Thanks.”
“Oh, this room has its own air system with temperature controls. You can adjust it however you like.”
I grunted in response.
“I put a pair of lounge pants and a tee in your bag. The loo is over there…” He pointed to the closed door. “Also…” He walked over and picked up two corded switches. “Push the black button if you want to talk to someone in the foyer. We cannot hear you unless you press the button, so anything said in here will be private. The red button is an emergency alarm that will sound through the entire building. There will be someone on this level at all times. In the nightstand, I placed a small, handheld video camera and flash drives, along with pens and notebooks.”
I glanced up at the TV hanging from the ceiling. “I don’t really watch television, although I do love movies.”
“We’ll get that figured out for you.”
“Can I get books?”
“Sure. Jot down what you want and I will get them for you. Are you all set for your ingestion? Your eyes are quite bright.”
“Yeah. I had a bag yesterday.”
“Well, you’re going to need more. Before you go to sleep tonight, Joseph will bring in a donation disguised as a concoction similar to a smoothie. In addition, he will need to take a bag’s worth. We need your blood to make more of the anti-serum.”
Not thrilled with the plan, I asked, “Can’t the female nurse do it?”
“No. Joseph is the nighttime nurse.”
“Figures,” I muttered. “Tell me about the procedures you and Dr. Barter have planned.”
“For your first procedure, we will harvest stem cells from your hips in the morning.”
“Sounds splendid.” I sighed, glancing around once more.
“Oh, fair warning. There will also be no way for you to connect with the outside world.”
While a frustrating aspect, it was probably for the best. If I had a way, I would stalk Elaina on social media. “Good plan.”
“If there’s anything you need or want, just ask. We’ll do our best to make it happen. I’ll see you in the morning.”
As he left, I walked over to the small, bar-covered window. I pulled on them, noting their stability. Nice touch. I really couldn’t escape. I glanced back at the entryway. Worst-case scenario, I’d cut someone’s finger off and use it for the print reader.
I turned and faced the window again. Only after craning my neck could I see the moon midway to its peak, hanging quietly, undisturbed by my world turning upside down. I wondered if Elaina would look at it when it approached her evening hours. Feeling a little mixed up, I shook my thoughts away and grabbed my pack, heading off to the loo to change.
Chapter 2
Startled awake by a knock, I sat straight up. As I rubbed my eyes, I heard it again. Almost forgetting where I was, I tried to focus in the morning light.
A voice came through the intercom. “Luke?”
I looked over at the observation window. Erik stood in the foyer, a thin-lipped smile plastered on his face.
“Fucking hell,” I grumbled, realizing my reality.
“Time to rise and shine. We let you sleep a little extra, but we’ll be coming in soon. Please strip down to your boxers, and don’t use the loo quite yet.”
I acknowledged him with a nod before he scurried back into the lab.
After disrobing, I lay back, spending a few minutes thinking about my family and what I did, wondering how they were coping.
Had Nicky slept through or partied all night, as per usual?
Did Elaina hunker down in bed? Was she eating, drinking?
How was my mum doing?
Was Gunther sad or angry…or maybe a mixture of both?
With countless thoughts and questions on my end, I would imagine there were ten times as many on theirs.
Feelings of regret flooded in, making me want to scream, break out of this cage trapping me, but I couldn’t free myself and fly away.
I didn’t earn my wings yet. I wasn’t sure if I ever would.
Emotions welled in my throat, wondering if they would be able to cure me of all the shit ailing me. I gazed around the room, looking for something to straighten, but there wasn’t a thing out of place. I scrubbed my face, hoping the treatment Erik offered would cure me. Until then, everything was lost…including me.
I had mixed feelings about the whole thing, not knowing if I should trust and submit to this madness. The possibility of having a true life, not something out of a science fiction film, made it feel worthwhile.
A whirring noise came from the decontamination machine. Moments later, Erik, the female nurse, who wore some hideous black scrubs with ridiculous giant flamingoes printed all over the top, and…
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I grumbled as the head-shrink walked in.
“What’s wrong?” Erik asked. I flicked my eyes toward PJ. “I told you he would be assessing you.”
“Whatever,” I said, sighing. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Michelle will take your vitals. Then we’ll run a few simple tests on your blood to make sure you are healthy enough for the harvesting. While we go over the results, Dr. Atbury will chat with you.”
“Perfect. Can’t wait.”
The nurse nodded toward my arm, then wrapped a blood pressure cuff around my bicep. I just lay there, staring at the atrocity all over her scrub top.
“What?” she asked.
“You’re really going to stand there and pretend your scrubs aren’t a tad ridiculous?”
We locked gazes. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Rolling my eyes, I whispered, “Feisty bird.”
She took my blood pressure a second and third time, then checked my pulse and temperature just as many. I almost snorted, finding it a bit difficult to hold back a chuckle as I wondered how Erik would explain.
“Hmmm…,” she said, glancing at Erik. “All his readings are low, and I don’t like the looks of them.”
Erik’s lips twitched, his nervous smile shifting before he cleared his throat. I found it surprising he hadn’t already rehearsed this situation. With a slight satisfied grin, I listened to him try to back his way out of the corner.
“Oh, no worries. As you can see…” He gestured at my body, “Luke is in impeccable shape. All athletes have lower readings.”
“Athlete?” she questioned, turning her gaze toward me.
Great, now I have to explain it. I was a damn good actor, though. “Kickboxer, weight training.” I waved my hand toward the equipment sitting in the corner of the room.
“My ex used to train in an MMA facility. Like that?”
“Yeah, but I’m a brilliant fighter. Proof right here…” I opened my mouth a little and pointed to the gap between my bottom teeth. “My wife’s best friend punched me and knocked out a tooth.”
She pulled my lip down, taking a peek for herself. “Is that how you got that heavy scarring on your lip?”
Apparently, she had no sense of humor. “Nope. People like to deck me in the mouth. I have no idea why. I’m such a nice bloke.” She didn’t catch on to my sarcasm because she was too busy staring at the gap in my teeth.
Just as she fluttered her fingertips over the scar, Erik clapped his hands once, startling her. “Okay, well… Let’s get this finished so Dr. Atbury can have a little time with Luke. I’d like to get the procedure done as soon as possible. We have a lot of work to do to prepare for the first treatment.”
Clearing her throat, she stepped back. “Right. My apologies,” she said, nodding to Erik and PJ, who both returned a single nod in return.
Once she jotted down the information in my chart, she headed off to the cabinets, unlocked them, and pulled out a short-handled bucket, a bunch of vials, and several other things.
She came back over and waggled a cup in my face. “I need a urine sample and a blood draw.”
Glancing at Erik, I asked, “The whole bag wasn’t enough last night?”
“This is for tests
,” he replied. “As I told you, last night’s was for anti-serum.”
“Bunch of fucking vampires…”
I got out of bed, snatched the cup from her hand, and headed into the loo. Once I finished, washing up three times, I came back out. Seeing the nurse waiting just outside the door, I handed her the cup and went back to the bed, lying down again. She placed the sample on the counter and walked back over to me.
As she began prepping my arm for a blood draw, I wondered if she knew I was a trained phlebotomist. Well, sort of trained, but damn good at not hurting or bruising anyone.
“Little pinch,” she said, pushing the needle into my vein. I lay there like a good patient, not complaining or wincing, watching the vials fill with my tainted blood.
When Michelle finished, Erik shined a penlight into my eyes. “What the fuck…? A little warning would be nice,” I grumbled, squinting.
He shrugged. “You’re already fading. You’ll need more today.”
Narrowing their eyes, Michelle and PJ looked back and forth between Erik and me, obviously clueless.
Erik grabbed my chart and jotted down a few notes. “We’ll take care of it tonight.”
“Joy,” I said.
“Well, we’re finished for now.” Erik waved at PJ. “You’re up next.”
I let out a loud sigh, hoping the head-shrink expected me to be very tight-lipped because I didn’t plan on having any deep, meaningful conversations with him.
Erik and Michelle headed out of my death chamber and back into the lab.
PJ pulled up a chair and sat beside the bed. “I don’t feel like we started off on the right foot,” he said, taking out a small notebook and pen from his pocket. “So, give me a quick synopsis of your life. Tell me about your family.”
“There’s nothing to tell that isn’t in my file, which I assume you’ve already read.”
“Yes, I’ve read the provided file; however, much of it had been redacted. I would like to hear your version.”
“I have a mother, wife, and son.”
He gazed over the top of his glasses. “Would you care to elaborate?”
“There’s nothing to elaborate on.”
Full Circle (Shattered Lives, Book Five) Page 3